Whoever he was, he did not expect that question. His mouth sagged open and he looked at me with disbelief. I turned to Mom; she had the same look of shock on her face. The nurse came in and Mom blurted out, "She doesn't remember her boyfriend!"

My brain felt like it was moving in slow motion. I turned to the guy again. The look of shock on his face had been replaced by sadness. Boyfriend? No way was this suit-wearing stranger my boyfriend. I thought about it some more. I didn't have a boyfriend; I'd never even been asked out. What on earth was going on?

The nurse was speaking in a foreign language, and the stranger was translating into English. She was saying they would get a neurology consult to make sure I didn't have brain damage. I groggily thought they needed to check this weirdo for brain damage, not me. I had only been awake a short time, but I was completely exhausted. I fell asleep again as the cacophony of voices rose and fell around me.

I woke and slept several times after that, and gradually I began staying awake longer and feeling less groggy. The scan turned out fine; the neurologist did his examination and decided I had selective amnesia. I could remember Mom and Dad and Sam; I couldn't remember coming to South Korea or my injury or anything about this guy named Joon who was practically living in my hospital room. Gradually I pieced together that I had come to South Korea to visit Joon. Somehow I had ended up with a knife in my back. No one would give me much information on how that had happened. There were complications during the surgery to stitch up my back, which meant I would be in the hospital for quite awhile.

Joon went to work in the mornings and then came to the hospital at noon and stayed until late evening. Mom usually went out for a bit in the afternoons while he was there; she seemed to really love him. As I started to feel better I grew more curious about this so-called boyfriend, so one afternoon I asked, "How old are you? Why am I dating a guy with a job instead of a college student?"

He smiled, kind of embarrassed, and said, "Twenty-two. I was a college student until recently; my dad died and I had to take over his company."

Chagrined, I said, "I'm sorry about your dad." He nodded in acknowledgement. I felt bad; I didn't want to intrude on his grief, but I was still confused. What 22-year-old can just take over the family business? "What did your dad do?"

Joon rubbed his hands together nervously, avoiding my eyes. "He was the head of Shinwha Corporation."

That rang a bell. Shinwha – where did I know that name? Then I gasped as it came to me. "Like THE Shinwha? Electronics? Resorts? That Shinwha?"

Joon nodded, trying to gauge my reaction.

I was stunned. I was dating the head of the Shinwha Corporation? And he was gorgeous, too? How on earth had that happened?

I stammered, "I don't mean to be rude, but have you looked in a mirror?"

Taken aback, Joon said, "What?"

"I mean, look at you. With that face and the Shinwha Corporation, you should be dating a supermodel or a famous actress or something. Why are you with me?"

Joon grinned widely. "You think I'm good-looking?"

Puzzled, I said, "Who wouldn't? I mean dang." I shook my head in appreciation.

He grinned even bigger, enjoying the compliment, and said, "I guess amnesia has its perks. You never would have said that before."

"Normally I wouldn't. But every day you walk in here and I think you must be in the wrong room, because look at me." I pointed to my very average-looking face. "I don't belong with you. Why are you dating me?"

Joon smiled and tilted his head to the side, studying my face. "Because you're Jandi James."

I sighed. That made no sense whatsoever, but he acted like it was the only answer I should need.

The days fell into a rhythm of sorts with nurses in and out and doctors rounding. I got to know Joon a little, but I still couldn't remember anything about him. One day he came and dropped something into my hand. I opened my fingers to see an anklet with a shark tooth strung onto it. It gave me the strangest feeling, like déjà vu mixed with happiness and maybe a hint of irritation.

Joon was watching me closely. "Do you remember?"

I shook my head. "It seems familiar somehow, but I can't place it. What is it?"

Joon smiled and said, "I gave you one just like that. Can I tell you a story?" I nodded, and he told me how he had surprised me with a trip to Mexico early in our relationship, not even giving me enough warning to pack a bag. He did this imitation of how dazed and confused I looked when he brought me onto his private jet, and I laughed so hard I started to cry. Then he started laughing and couldn't even continue with the story. Eventually we settled down, gasping for breath.

Joon seemed nice enough, but I had been wondering what I saw in him. Now I understood. He was funny and sweet and generous. Why had I forgotten him?

After the anklet he started bringing in little gifts to jog my memory. One day he brought an action movie. He said we had watched it together before, but I couldn't remember so we watched it again. Another day he brought a quilt Mom had made him for Christmas. He wrapped it around my shoulders, and I knew without a doubt it had been there before, but I still couldn't quite remember.

My favorite was the day he brought a gourmet lobster dinner for me, along with his butler to serve it. The butler smiled and greeted me like we were old friends. Joon tried to tell me his name, but the butler interrupted and said, "Just call me Alfred." I laughed and agreed. As we ate our lobster Alfred surreptitiously pulled a picture out of his pocket and slid it onto my lap. I leaned back to peek at it and saw a baby boy dressed in a hanbok seated behind a cake and lots of fruit. I held it up to Joon. "Is this you?"

Joon glared at Alfred and started scolding him in Korean; clearly this part had not been part of his plan. Alfred gave him an innocent smile and said in English, "Maybe she'll remember." Joon sighed and then nodded reluctantly in answer to my question.

I examined the picture, cooing over Joon's little baby cheeks and his adorable little hanbok. "Look at you! You're so cute!"

Joon just rolled his eyes.

Walking was a big part of my recuperation; the doctors wanted me walking as much as possible. Joon would usually escort me, and I could make pretty good time holding on to him on one side and my IV pole on the other. He treated me like I was made out of glass, and even though it was sweet in a way, it was also annoying. I really wondered what had brought us together. He seemed so completely out of my league I couldn't imagine how we had begun dating. I kept asking him questions, but he was pretty evasive and just said I'd remember eventually.

One day on our walk, we sat down at our usual halfway point and Joon pulled my phone out. I hadn't seen it since before the hospital, so I was surprised. "Where'd you get that?"

"Your mom gave it to me," he said. He pulled up my photos and clicked on a picture of himself in Wal-mart, and handed it to me. "Do you remember that?"

I looked closely. He was dressed in a formal suit, standing in Wal-mart, glaring at me with little girls' clothes in the background. I met Joon's eyes; he was watching me closely. "I don't remember taking this picture, but it makes me want to smile."

Joon sighed. He flipped through some more pictures. There we were smiling together, even at my house in Tulsa.

He kept flipping through, but the last two pictures were kind of different. I was standing next to a picture of Joon on an ad marquee, making faces while I poked his eyes in one and hit the side of his face in the other. Joon let out an indignant "Yah!" when he saw them. I ignored him, too absorbed in the look on my face in the pictures. It wasn't the face of a girlfriend joking and having fun with her boyfriend's face on a marquee. I seemed lost and sad, somehow, like I was desperately keeping my spirits up by having some fun at Joon's expense.

I turned to the real-life Joon at my side. "You've never seen these?"

He shook his head.

"Did we break up or have a fight or something? Because look at my face compared to the others." I flipped back to the ones where we were together, then forward again. "I look sad."

Joon looked at his hands in his lap. Finally he said, "We had a misunderstanding."

"Is that your nice guy word for a fight?"

He sighed. "We fought all the time. We liked to fight. But this wasn't a fight," and he pointed to the picture. "This was a misunderstanding."

I was so confused. "What was the misunderstanding about?"

He looked away and then back down to his lap, his hands fidgeting. "It's a long story."

"And one you're not going to tell me." I stated it as a fact, not a question, and he didn't respond. I was so tired of asking questions and not getting any answers. "Let me ask you this. What if I never remember? I'm getting better and eventually Mom and I will head back to the States. Are you just going to let me go?"

Joon looked at me seriously. "You'll remember. I'll make sure you remember." He sighed and stood up. "Let's walk." He took my arm and we walked back to my room.

Sure enough, within a few days the doctor was talking about releasing me from the hospital. He didn't want me to fly yet, but we could move to a hotel until I was well enough to endure the flight home.

The evening before my release Joon appeared with the most gigantic bouquet of flowers I had ever seen.

I smiled, remembering the lobster dinner. "You never do anything by halves, do you?"

Joon's face lit up. "Did you remember?"

Confused, I said, "What?"

His face fell. "You said that to me once before. I thought maybe you remembered."

"I did?" I searched my memory. No, it wasn't triggering anything. "Why did I say it? Maybe I'll remember if you tell me."

He shook his head. "I have another idea. Do you feel well enough for a walk?"

I nodded, and he helped me up. He grabbed my coat and held it out for me as I put it on and then insisted I button up the front. My IV had already been disconnected, and this was my first walk without it since I'd been admitted. It was nice to just walk along, my arm through Joon's, and pretend I wasn't a patient for awhile.

Joon led me to the elevator and we got off on the top floor. He pushed the door open to the roof; we had been up here several times during our walks so I knew there was a little garden up here and a nice view of the city.

This time, though, Joon opened the door and I was startled to see a swing set exactly like the one at my house in Oklahoma. I stopped and said, "Is that my swing set from home?"

Joon gave my arm a little tug to get me walking again and said, "No, it's one just like it."

I stopped again. "You somehow brought this swing set to Korea and set it up on the roof of this hospital?"

He pulled me forward again and said, "Yeah," like it was no big deal.

"Why?"

He sat me down in one of the swings and then he sat down in the other one. "I thought it might help your memory."

I watched him gently swinging and it seemed like I had been here before, with him. "Have we sat like this before?

He smiled. "Yes. Do you remember?"

I thought a minute. "Almost, I think. It's like when you're trying to think of a word that's right on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite think of it."

He got out of the swing and knelt down in front of me. "Can I try something, just for the sake of jogging your memory?"

"Try what?" I asked, and before I could even finish the question he cradled my face in his hands and kissed me. I squirmed and tried to pull back, but he had my face in his hands and he wasn't letting go. I decided maybe it was worth a try, so I closed my eyes and leaned in.

Memories washed over me. I remembered our first kiss on this swing set, when he held my hands instead of my face. I remembered how we met and that fateful kick to the head. I remembered the mini Christmas tree and our last evening together. I remembered his disappearance, the months of depression, and most importantly, that he had no business kissing me right now.

A few tears escaped down my cheeks as I pulled his hands off and leaned back. "Why did you make me remember? Now I have to forget again."

He wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. "No, you don't. Jandi James vanquished the wicked witch."

With tears still running down my cheeks, I said, "What are you talking about?"

He smiled earnestly. "I didn't think my mother had a heart at all. She hired those kidnappers, you know. Then they double crossed her and sent me a ransom note. That's why I showed up – I was just going to pay it and get you out of there. Mother's actually grateful to you. You pushed me out of the way and got stabbed yourself by the kidnappers she hired. She's on our side now."

I was so confused. "She hired those guys? But why? You left me. We were done."

Joon sighed. "Her spies caught us on the balcony of the hotel together. Besides, I never left you. I was trying to find a way. She was monitoring everything I did, because I told her I was going to marry you."

I was completely shocked, but he just grabbed my hand and led me to the edge of the roof. I numbly walked along. Wait – marriage? I thought he was breaking up, and he was plotting to marry me?

He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a set of couple rings inside. A cool breeze blew on my face, and all of a sudden my mind cleared. Joon took the little ring out and started to put it on my finger, but I pulled my hand away.

"You put me through hell the last three months and now you want to pretend everything's great and we're going to get married?"

His mouth gaped open. "I put you through hell? Who was so eager to say goodbye? You give me one week and then it's goodbye, so long? And what about all this amnesia business? You think this has been easy for me?"

"What was I supposed to think? I smuggled a letter to you; you couldn't figure out a way to get a message to me?"

"I told you I loved you! You thought I changed my mind in one week? Why couldn't you wait for me?"

"You completely ignored me that day at Shinwha! You acted like you didn't even know who I was!"

"I had to! My mother would have found out about it otherwise, and I was scared to death seeing you there. Do you know how worried I was?"

He glared at me, that unique Joon glare, and all those days of missing him came back to me in a flood. I had missed these arguments and that glare. I was weak and tired from all the time in the hospital, though, and I started to sob. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him, and said through tears, "I missed you so much."

He must have been startled, because he didn't move for a second. Then he hugged me back, stroking my hair. I cried out all the unhappiness I'd managed to forget, there with the one whose absence caused it. When the crying finally subsided into sniffles, Joon stepped back and looked into my face. "So . . . about those rings?"

I wiped my eyes. "Are these engagement rings or couple rings?"

Joon smiled. "Couple rings. When I ask you to marry me, you'll know it."

I rolled my eyes and stuck my hand out. "Give it to me." He still had the little ring in his hand, and warily he started sliding it on. Putting my hand over his, I stopped him before he could slide it all the way on. "I have some conditions."

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"No more disappearing. If you want to break up, you do it properly and say goodbye."

Joon's lips compressed into a thin line, but he nodded.

He gave me the other ring to put on his finger. I started to slide it on, but he put his hand over mine and said, "I have conditions, too."

"What?"

He stepped closer, his face an inch from mine. "No breaking up, no saying goodbye. Ever."

I stepped back. "But . . . I have to finish school." My voice trailed off lamely.

"So?" Joon glared. "Finish school. But do it with my ring on your finger." He grabbed my hand and held it up for me to see the ring on it. "And we're getting married when you're done."

There was the M word again. "Joon . . . ." I didn't know how to say it, but marriage was such a big, scary prospect.

He grabbed my hands and looked at me earnestly. "You're always making excuses, Jandi. We don't fit; we don't belong together. I should find a supermodel or something." He sighed and looked out across the city before returning his eyes to mine. "But I think you're scared and it's not me you're scared of. You had your life all planned out, a social worker with 2.5 kids living somewhere in suburban America. You didn't picture Shinwha Corporation and Korea and all that."

I thought about it. Yes, the thought of living in Korea scared me to death, and trying to be some kind of society wife was even scarier.

Joon just kept talking. "But I'll help you. You're Jandi James, you don't back down from a challenge, right? Can you just try?"

I looked at our hands clasped together and remembered all those long, sad months without Joon. I shook my head and said, "Your mom, and Shinwha, and Korea – it all scares me." I reached up and put my hands on his cheeks. "But losing you is scarier than anything else I can think of. So I'll try my best." I pulled his face to mine, enjoying the shocked look in his eyes as he realized my intentions. Then I kissed him, pouring out all the loneliness and longing of the last few months. His arms wrapped around me, and finally, I was home.